Wednesday Bible Study: Patience, Wisdom, and the False Prophet

 

So a couple posts ago, I mentioned the horror coming was displayed in the last passage we looked at:

Rev 13:9  If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 

Rev 13:10  He who leads into captivity will go into captivity. If anyone will kill with the sword, he must be killed by a sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 

And today, we'll see what that links to.  But first, we have one last character in Satan's mad plan to look into:

Rev 13:11  And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. And it had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. 

This being is later on called the False Prophet- the "Unholy Spirit" to Satan's "Father" and the AntiChrist's "Son".  And the passage here following- a mere 8 verses- contain all we know about him.  But let's see what we have here.

First, unlike the AC, the Beast that rose out of the sea, this Beast rises up from the land.  Most commentators can only give educated guesses to what this means; even John McArthur, whose sermons have been so helpful in this journey, basically says he doesn't know.  But I think "like a lamb" gives us a clue.  As I meditated on this, a song passage from Genesis- the band, not the book- came to mind:

Take a little trip back, with Father Tireseus

Listen to the old one speak of all he has been through

"I have crossed between the poles,

to me there's no mystery;

Once a man, like the sea I raged

Once a woman, like the earth I gave;

But there is in fact more earth than sea..."

What I drew from this is:  The AC is raging power, like the sea; the False Prophet is the calm, giving, lamb-like soothing voice that gets you to go along with him.  He has "two little horns"; Without knowing what else this could mean, I'm thinking it might indicate that he is a lamb too old (and thus, UNFIT) for sacrifice, unlike Jesus.  Unlike, but similar.  But behind his sweet words, he is every bit as much a devil as the AC.

Now the passage goes on to describe a list of things he was empowered to do that were coin-flips of Jesus.  Regard:

- He does great signs and wonders (v13); He copies what Jesus did in the distant past, AND what the two witnesses did just prior to this.  I believe the "attempted assassination" and following coronation of the AC as god, the murder and resurrection of the two witnesses, and the destruction of the Harlot Church happen bang-bang-bang, and this is when the False Prophet steps in, to proclaim this new, final religion.  But how is it that these lunkheads are convinced by him when the Witnesses did the same thing and were rejected?

- He deceives everyone (v14a).  Remember, the ones deceived are those who were not sealed prior to the Seal judgments- and the deceptions are so great...

 Mat 24:24  For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect. 

Jesus came as the Truth.  The FP comes as the Lie.

-He orders an "Image" of the AC to be made (v14b).  He is going to command a technology- perhaps a holographic TV with sensor capabilities- to be designed and put in every house, so that everywhere you are, 'Big Brother' is watching you.  And how far from that are we right now? Where Jesus was "The image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15), the False Prophet is going to create an image of a visible man.

- He is going to endow this 'image' with the ability to discern his followers from resisters, marking them for execution (v15).  The Lord judges the heart and gives life; the 'image' judges actions and brings death.  This will tie into what comes next in a minute.

- And the part you've all been waiting for:

Rev 13:16  Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 

Rev 13:17  so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 

Now, not only has the AntiChrist the reins of economic power through his artificial famine, but now it is tied into WORSHIPING him; much like Nebuchadnezzar back in Daniel's day:

Dan 3:4  And the herald proclaimed aloud, "You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 

Dan 3:5  that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 

Dan 3:6  And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace." 

So Nebuchadnezzar was in effect a Satanic dry run for the False Prophet.  In this, the FP and Jesus are similar in that each has a sign by which others might live; the difference being that Jesus's sign was the Cross on which He died, and the FP's is the mark that leads to death.  You might know what's coming next, but I'm going to veer off just for a minute- and shoot ahead to the next chapter.  John sees a vision next of the martyr's of the AntiChrist's persecution (which we saw at the top, followed by "Here is the patience of the saints".  Hold onto that.)  After the martyrs, John sees 3 angels making proclamations to the world.  The first one warns the world to give glory to God, because the final judgment comes.  The second declares, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great"- repeated because not only is the Harlot Church destroyed, but also the great city that the AntiChrist dedicated to himself; this we'll get into at a later time.  The third declares that everyone who takes on this mark from the FP will be cast into hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200.  And the passage ends with some very familiar phraseology:

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints. Here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 

Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they shall rest from their labors, and their works follow them. 

This is the reward of that patience.  And there is another one of these bookend "here is" statements that I want you to bring up.  The second you might remember from last week:

Rev 17:9  And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. 

I told you this is the verse that makes many think the Harlot Church and the remains of the Roman Catholic Church are one in the same- and I also told you, I don't think it's that easy.  Because here's the first part of that bookend- the part you've been waiting on:

Rev 13:18  Here is the wisdom. Let him having reason count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. And its number is six hundred and sixty-six. 

A while back now, I mentioned that Chuck Swindoll believes that this is something that will only make sense when the surviving believers NEED it to.  And, as I've mentioned before, in my reading of Proverbs, I've come to see that Wisdom= the Holy Spirit.  Thus, my theory is both of these things have a meaning that we cannot discern- but those who believe then will be guided to.

All right so now the players- Satan, the AntiChrist, the Harlot and her successor, the False Prophet, have all been introduced.  And that leaves us the final curtain to raise:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in Heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels with the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.